CHAP. II.

THE LOST DOG FOUND.

31

nothing of the town, the roads being literally impassable. Altogether, Omsk had not a very prepossessing appearance whilst we were there.

At eight o'clock we left for Tomsk, Mr. Atkinson being in great dread of the rivers breaking up before our arrival. We had rough travelling, the country was not interesting, some of the villages were prettily situated and beautifully decorated. At Kaiansk my husband hoped to find his dog, which had followed a pack of wolves some distance when he passed this way on his road to Moscow to fetch me; and, in his hurry to go forward, he had not been able to wait for her return. Orders were left with the post-master to have her taken care of, the dog being a favourite. I had a kind of wish that we might not find her, as I had been told she slept in the sledge, and I had fully made up my mind that no dog should sleep in a sledge with me.

On arriving at the village, Mr. Atkinson whistled, the poor brute recognised his voice immediately, and came bounding over the top of the low hut, disdaining to walk through the gate. As I looked at her I thought I never saw anything more beautiful; she was a steppe dog, her coat was jet black, ears long and pendent, her tail long and bushy; indeed, it was a princely animal; the red collar round her neck contrasted so prettily with her coat, and then to see the delight of the poor beast as she leapt into the sledge; I do not know which was happiest, dog or master. Having rewarded the peasant we drove on, but the dog never once annoyed me by entering the sledge; when tired with running, she used to occupy Nicholai's place beside the driver.

One night, being much tired from the continued shaking and bumping on the bad roads, we had both fallen into a sound sleep, when we were aroused by the low growling of the dog. We started up on finding that the sledge was perfectly still, and on looking out found that two of the horses were gone, and we not near a poststation, there being only two or three huts surrounded by a forest. Mr. Atkinson jumped out, when he perceived four men standing near the sledge but no driver; he called out loudly for him, and, receiving no answer, demanded horses of these men. The fellows were exceedingly insolent, and bade him go to the next station and get them. There was no mistaking into what sort of hands we had fallen. They now came forward and commenced unharnessing the remaining horses, but my husband told them he would shoot the first man who attempted to take one away: they paid no regard to his words. I then passed him his pistols, the click of which, and his determined look, evidently produced some effect, as they now desisted. After some talking amongst themselves, they commenced moving off towards the forest; this my husband would not permit. He said he would shoot the first man who stirred; they declared they were going for horses; he told them one man was sufficient for that,

There was again

and more he should not allow to go. much talking, Mr. Atkinson walking up and down beside the sledge, keeping sentinel, and Jatier (the dog) walking by him, with tail erect, apparently by her continued barking not relishing the society she had got into, or perhaps she was expecting a fracas such as is common at a Kirghis Aoul.

CHAP. II.

ESCAPE FROM ROBBERS.

3333

At length, one of the men went off into the forest, and in about ten minutes returned with two horses, which he harnessed to the sledge, and then mounted the box. Mr. Atkinson seated himself and away we went, not a little delighted to get out of such a den of thieves, as they doubtless were. You may rest assured I slept no more that night. At the next station a complaint was made, but it was unmistakeable that no further notice would be taken of the matter; evidently, they were all in a clique, and we had no time to stay and make a declaration to the proper authorities, being too anxious to proceed.

There is no doubt our yemschick had perceived we were asleep, as the sledge was not closed on account of a feeling of suffocation, which always came across me when it was, and that he took the opportunity of driving us into the forest, intending at the least to rob, if not murder us. As we drove away from this horrid place, we observed him peeping out from behind the trees.

For some stations before reaching Tomsk we had no snow at all; how we managed to drag on is a mystery. At length, we got on to the Tom; this was a great assistance, but about three stations before reaching the town we had to cross the river and ascend the bank; the water was so deep on the ice that we feared everything in the sledge would be spoiled; however, we passed in safety, and about four o'clock of April 4th we arrived here, right glad to do so, as you can form no conception of what the roads are on the breaking up of the winter; they remind one of the waves of the sea,

D

only there the boat rides over them with ease, whereas here we rise on the top of the wave and then sink down with a thump as if one's very life was being shaken out. This does not happen merely now and then, but we have a succession of them for versts and versts together; that the sledge is not smashed to atoms is a wonder, and, as for sleep, you may judge we had but little of that; it requires a pretty strong constitution to endure for days and days together such rough travelling as we have here; we are told the poor couriers live but a few years.

We are for the moment comfortably established in the house of the governor, but he and his family are at Barnaoul. There are no inns here as in other places, though there is one house where persons can go and dine; a strange couple it is kept by. A travelling caravan once passed through the towns of Siberia, containing many wonderful things, amongst the rest a German giantess and a dwarf Albino; these two, weary of the life they were leading, agreed to marry and settle down, she being an excellent cook, and he a good hand at making port wine; the result was the dining-rooms of Tomsk.

We shall be obliged to make a longer stay here than we had the slightest intention of doing, it being impossible to travel either by winter or summer roads; indeed, the post is stopped, there is no possibility of crossing the rivers. We are not the only persons detained, for Mr. Livashoff, whom we met, has arrived from Ekaterinburg, and cannot continue his route to Irkoutsk. He got here in a worse plight than we did; he had been induced to put his sledge on wheels, one of which came off

CHAP. II.

A YOUTHFUL HEIRESS.

35

shortly before he reached the town, and he was dragged in with the three; he was in such an awful condition, that he was in bed two days to recover himself.

Since our arrival here, there has been a number of balls and parties: we were just in time for the Easter festivities; it was the last week of the fast when we got into Tomsk. First, I went and made the acquaintance of all the notables of the town, they are principally gold seekers. Mr. Astersghoff is one of the wealthiest, and possesses rich mines in the Yenissey, which we shall visit; he showed us some fine specimens of gold, weighing 25lb. and 30lb. each. These miners have magnificent mansions, and live in great state. We likewise visited the vice-governor, a most amiable and gentlemanly man; he will not be able to hold his office much longer, having married the daughter of a gold-seeker. A government officer is not allowed to work mines of his own, and as he now possesses them he must give up his post. He is just married his wife was the only daughter of a poor peasant, her d; mother died whilst she was young; this child used to run about the streets bare-legged until she was a good age. When the rage for gold-seeking was so great, the old peasant thought he would hazard his little savings which he had collected for his daughter's dowry, so started off one fine day; fortune rewarded his efforts, for he found a mine, which proved to be very rich; he now sent his daughter, of whom he was justly proud, to a school, where she learned to read and write.

The poor fellow did not live long to enjoy the fruits of his labours, he died two years ago, leaving his daughter a rich heiress at the age of fifteen; her educa